City manager hiring close

Carey Smith will continue as interim city manager until Nov. 30. The contract extension was approved recently by City Council.

Smith was expected to hold the position for four to five months while City Council conducted a search for a city manager.

Mayor Bronco Bostick said hiring a new city manager is taking more time than he and council thought it would.

“We were running behind with the interviews and coordination of the candidates. It takes a long time with the applications going through the background checks,” Bostick said. “I think we’ll start interviewing sometime next week. We’re just trying to do it right and get in the right salary for someone to manage a population of 10,000-15,000 people.”

The city manager position was advertised in municipal government journals. The search is being handled by Slavin Management Consultants.

Ted Felder, the city manager who resigned in January following a City Council executive session, was hired in April 2010 after serving in an acting capacity. Felder’s salary was $90,000 plus benefits.

Dennis Averkin, the city’s former finance director, was appointed to fill Felder’s seat but resigned three weeks later to take a job as the director of finance and administration in Walterboro. City Attorney David Tedder was then tasked with the position until Smith was hired.

At the time of Smith’s hiring in March, Bostick said having an interim had been the plan when Felder resigned and through working with the Municipal Association of South Carolina, a “seasoned city manager” was found.

Smith is the second interim city manager and came to Hardeeville out of retirement from positions such as city manager at Rock Hill and Daytona Beach, Fla.

“It’s a situation where legally speaking we have to be sure that I’m squared away as far as the manager is concerned,” Smith said. “I’ve made it clear to the council that I would agree to work on, and so we have to take this step in order to make that continuation in accordance with the city’s code and state law.”